The Call in the Night
by DaLiza
Summary: When his father is hurting, Parker Booth knows who to call.
1. Chapter 1

"Do we have a case?" Brennan asked as she opened her cell phone when Booth's name appeared on caller ID. She hoped that the answer was 'yes' so that she would have an excuse to leave the noisy club Angela had dragged her to because she thought Brennan wasn't having enough 'fun' in her life. Brennan had only agreed to go because Booth was spending the weekend with Parker.

"A case of what?" Asked a much younger voice than the one she was expecting.

Brennan's eyebrows jumped as she realized the owner of the voice. "Parker?"

"Parker's on the phone?" Said a slightly inebriated Angela. "Awww! He's so adorable. But of course he's adorable; he's Booth's kid. Will you tell him Auntie Angela says hi?"

Brennan frowned at her friend. "But you're not his aunt."

Angela laughed. "Please just tell him, Bren."

"Parker, Angela says hi," Brennan said. "Why are you on your father's phone?"

"He needs your help," Parker whispered.

Brennan strained to hear him over the music. "I'm sorry, Parker, but I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat what you just said?"

Parker spoke louder. "He needs your help, Dr. Bones."

_If Booth needs help with something, why wouldn't he call me himself? _"What does he need help with?"

"Something's wrong with him. He's not moving."

Brennan felt a wave of nausea as she remembered Booth lying motionless on the ice after suffering a concussion. _I get nervous when you fall down and don't get up_, she had told him when he woke up and wondered why she was standing above him. That had been a lie. She hadn't been nervous; she'd been terrified. "Is he unconscious?"

"No, I don't think so. But he's been on the couch for a long time now."

Angela poked Brennan's arm to get her attention. "What's going on? Is Booth unconscious? You know I love him dearly, but I swear if he almost dies on you _again_, I'm going to kill him."

"He's fine, Ange." Brennan breathed a sigh of relief. "Parker, your dad being on the couch for a long time doesn't sound like a cause for alarm."

"But I saw him crying. I've _never_ seen him cry before." Parker started sniffling. "It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault," Brennan said soothingly. She realized that her statement might turn out to be untrue, but she felt that she needed to calm the child; maybe it was the 'maternal instinct' most people thought she lacked. "Tell me what happened."

"I was playing Modern Warfare 2--"

"Is that a board game?"

"No!" Parker laughed. "It's a video game. A really _awesome_ video game. You're in the army and you get to shoot the bad guys and be a hero, just like Dad. I was playing it in my room when I was supposed to be asleep. Dad came in to check on me and he got really mad when he saw it. He said that war wasn't a game, that real people got hurt and sometimes died. Then he took it and walked away. I left my room later because I had to go to the bathroom and that's when I saw Dad crying on the couch."

Brennan was close to tears herself. "So that's why you called me?"

"He always smiles when you're around, so I thought you could make him feel better. So will you come over? Please please please with a cherry on top?"

"You don't need to give me a cherry." She was already paying her tab. "I'm on my way."

"Awesome!" He smiled his father's smile. Now that Dr. Bones was coming, everything would be okay. "Bye, Bones."

"Goodbye, Parker." Brennan hung up the phone and turned to Angela, giving her twenty dollars for a cab since they had driven to the club in Brennan's car. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Why? You said Booth was fine."

"He's not injured or dying, but he still needs me. I'll see you on Monday."

"See you Monday." Angela smiled to herself as Brennan ran out of the club. _Oh Brennan. You say you don't love him, but you're willing to run to his side whenever he needs you. Someday the two of you are going to stop lying to yourselves and each other. You'll get married and have ridiculously adorable babies and the world will rejoice._

_And Hodgins will owe me fifty bucks._

* * *

Booth groaned when he heard knocking on his front door. People said that misery loved company, but company was the last thing he wanted right now. Maybe if he ignored his visitor, he or she would go away. Whoever it was probably had the wrong apartment anyway; he almost never had late night guests.

Thinking Booth hadn't answered the door because he hadn't heard her, Brennan knocked again. "Booth? It's Bones."

_Bones?_ Booth found himself jumping off the couch at the sound of her voice. If Bones was coming to his apartment at this hour, something had to be wrong. His own problems could wait. "Are you okay?" He asked as he opened the door.

Brennan felt a swell of affection for her partner. His reddened eyes proved he had been crying, and yet he was worried about her. "I'm fine. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure. You can come in anytime, Bones." He led her to his couch and they sat down together.

After a few seconds of silence, Brennan spoke. "Are _you_ okay?"

Unable to face her piercing eyes, Booth lowered his gaze. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Parker called me. He said--"

"Whoa! Stop right there, Bones. Parker called you? How does he even know your number?"

"I don't believe he does. He borrowed your cell phone."

"He _took_ my phone?!"

Brennan put a hand on his arm. "Don't be mad at him. He was worried about you. He told me that you were upset so that I could try to make you feel better."

Booth was touched by his son's thoughtfulness and by Bones wanting to help him, but he didn't want to burden her with his pain. "I was upset earlier. But I'm better now. Really."

"You don't look like you're better," was her honest observation. "You don't have to lie to me, Booth. You gave me your gun and asked me to cover you during our last case. If you can trust me with your life, then you should be able to trust me with your feelings." Sensing his reluctance, she added: "Unless you'd rather talk to Sweets. I can call him for you if you--"

"Noooo. I'm not talking to Sweets about this."

"Then talk to me." She moved her hand to cover his. "Please?"

Booth sighed. He had a hard enough time saying no to her on a normal day-- how was he supposed to resist her now? "I saw Parker playing this army video game. It was way too violent for a kid his age. He told me Jared got it for him for Christmas. What the hell was my brother thinking? Anyway, the graphics and the sound effects brought back a lot of memories…very vivid memories of struggling to stay alive while my friends died right in front of me."

"Friends like Teddy Parker?"

"Yeah. And then I thought of _my_ Parker in the army, doing the things I did, seeing the things I saw…it made me sick. He's my son, Bones. I don't want him ever suffering the way I did."

Brennan squeezed his hand. "He won't suffer like you did because you'll do whatever it takes to protect him. He's very lucky to have you as a father."

Booth grinned. "I guess he is."

Seeing how happy her words had made him, Brennan felt guilty that she didn't tell him more often how much he meant to her. "And I'm lucky to have you as a partner. You've helped me so much with my work and family, you've taught me a lot about people, and you've saved my life several times. I should really say thank you for everything you've done for me, but a 'thank you' seems extremely inadequate."

Booth was silent for a few moments as he committed his partner's praise to memory. "I should thank you too, Bones. Remember when we first started working together, I told you that I wanted to catch at least one murderer for every life I'd taken as a sniper? I couldn't have reached that goal without you. You're the best partner I've ever had, and you've saved my life as often as I've saved yours." His thumb absentmindedly traced circles on her hand. "You know…you're also the best friend I've ever had."

Brennan blinked back tears. "I could say the same about you."

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," she said with a smile.

Booth smiled back at her. "You are becoming quite amusing, Bones. I'm going to ask you something else. A favor." He took a deep breath. "Will you stay with me tonight? I'd really appreciate the company…if you don't have anywhere else you need to be."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm exactly where I need to be."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I know I told you guys that this story was complete, but I got the urge to write a (mostly) fluffy epilogue. Hope you'll forgive me.

* * *

"Daaaaaaaad!" Parker Booth whispered into his sleeping father's ear. "Are you awake?"

Reluctantly leaving behind yet another inappropriate dream about his 'just partner', Booth opened his eyes to find his son standing over him. "I am now. What's up, buddy?"

"Why is Dr. Bones in your bed?"

Booth chuckled. Parker was at the age where he asked a lot of questions, but that wasn't a question he had ever imagined would come out of his son's mouth…or anyone else's mouth for that matter. He sat up slowly, groaning at the familiar twinge in his back. He would have to ask Bones to fix it later. "Because she needed a place to sleep."

He and Bones had fallen asleep on the couch the night before, and Booth had woken up sometime later to find his partner sprawled on top of him. His initial reaction was one of surprise, but that surprise was quickly replaced by a less innocent emotion, one Booth was loath to name. The logical part of his brain (the part that sounded a lot like Bones) had told him that his feelings were natural. After all, it had been a long, _long_ time since he had been in such an intimate position with a woman. _But this isn't any woman_, his conscience had reminded him. _This is your partner. Your best friend. The one woman you can't risk losing. So calm down. Now. Right now! _He had tried reciting Flyers' stats in his mind, but he couldn't stop his body from responding to her. Embarrassed by his lack of control, he had carried her to his bed, tucked her in under the covers, and returned to the couch, where his conscience yelled at him for several minutes before he fell asleep again.

"But why did you give her _your_ bed?" Parker asked. "You _hate_ sleeping on the couch!"

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be right for me to sleep in my room while Bones was on the couch."

Parker considered his father's words for a minute. "Because she's a girl?"

"And a guest in our house," Booth added. "Sometimes you need to make sacrifices for the people you lo--" Booth coughed to cover his slip. "The people you care about. Understand?"

Parker nodded thoughtfully. "Like the time you were really excited about taking me to a hockey game but I got sick and threw up so we had to stay home."

Grateful for the change of topic, Booth smiled as he ran a hand through his son's curls. "Exactly."

"But why couldn't you both sleep in the bed? Mom and Drew sleep in the same bed."

That was a mental image Booth could have lived without. "Your mom and Drew are dating. Bones and I are just friends." _Sure you are, _his conscience mocked him. _The feelings you had for her last night were oh so friendly._

"I've had friends sleep over in _my_ bed," Parker pointed out.

"It's more complicated when you're older." Booth had shared an obscenely small bed with his partner while they were undercover as Buck and Wanda Moosejaw. But sharing a bed as Booth and Bones? That would be infinitely more dangerous.

"What's more complicated when you're older?"

Both Booths turned and smiled at the sound of Brennan's voice. "Hi, Dr. Bones!" Parker shouted as he ran to give her a hug. Booth wished he could do the same; it had been far too long since their last 'guy hug'.

Brennan grinned at the boy who'd managed to slip past her heart's formidable defenses, just like his father had. "Good morning, Parker. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Dad was just telling me why you guys can't sleep together."

Booth forced himself to laugh. "So who wants waffles for breakfast?"

"I do! I do!" Parker cried eagerly.

His son's enthusiasm brought forth a genuine laugh. "Can I make some for you too, Bones?"

Her stomach voted yes, but was overruled by her brain. "You don't need to do that. I wouldn't want to impose on your limited father/son time."

"You wouldn't be imposing," Booth assured her. "Right, Parker?"

Parker frowned. "What does 'imposing' mean?"

"In this context, it means 'to inconvenience someone with unreasonable demands,'" Brennan answered. Seeing Parker's confused expression, Brennan reconsidered her choice of vocabulary. "To be a bother to someone."

"Oh," Parker said. "You're not a bother. I like having you around, and I know my dad does too. He likes you a whole lot. Right, Dad?"

"Right." Booth's face reddened. "So…will you have breakfast with us?" He flashed her the charm smile to seal the deal. Parker saw it and did the same.

Brennan couldn't resist the Booth boys' identical smiles. "I'd love to."

Booth grinned and offered her his arm. "May I escort you to the kitchen table, Lady Temperance?"

Brennan laughed as she folded her arm around his. "Very well, Sir Seeley."

"Can I be a knight too?" Parker asked, not wanting to be left out.

"Of course you can," Booth said. "Lead the way, Sir Parker!"

* * *

"Can I do anything to help?" Brennan asked, watching Booth take out a Belgian waffle iron and batter from a cabinet while she and Parker sat at the kitchen table.

"Nope," Booth answered as he plugged the iron into the wall. "You're our guest, Bones. The only thing you need to do is sit, relax and admire the chef in action." He winked at her. "Sir Parker, can you show Bones--"

"Lady Temperance," Parker corrected.

Booth laughed. "Can you show Lady Temperance how well you set the table?"

"Okay!" Parker dutifully set out glasses and silverware for the three of them. When he reached for his father's plates, the top one slipped out of his grasp and fell to the floor, shattering on impact. Parker turned to his father with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry!"

Booth instantly wrapped his arms around his son. "It's alright, buddy. It was an accident. It could have happened to anybody."

"It wouldn't have happened to _you_," Parker said between sobs.

"It could have. I have accidents too," Booth assured him. "I broke a coffee cup at work last month."

Parker couldn't believe his dad could be that clumsy. "Really?"

"Yup." Booth really had broken his "World's Greatest FBI Agent" coffee cup the month before…by throwing it against one of his office walls at the end of a really bad day. "Everyone makes mistakes. Even Bones messes up sometimes, and she's the smartest person on the planet." Booth looked to Brennan to see her reaction to his praise, but she seemed to be lost in thought. He wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but decided the question could wait; he should clean up before he or Parker stepped on a piece of plate. He gathered up the broken plate pieces and threw them in the trash, then took out three plates from the cabinet and held them out to Parker. "You did a great job with the glasses and utensils. Can you finish?" Wiping away his last tears, Parker nodded and took the plates.

As Parker finished setting the table, Booth turned his attention to his partner, who was looking slightly paler than normal. "Do you want something to drink, Bones? We've got coffee, juice--" He broke off when the memory of Bones' tearful confession hit him like a bullet to the heart. _My foster parents locked me in the trunk of a car for two days when I broke a dish. I was a very clumsy child. They warned me it would happen, but the water was so hot and the soap was so slippery_. _I still don't think it was fair, even though they gave me fair warning_. Feeling guilty he hadn't thought of it sooner, he hurried to her side and reached for her hand. "What you told Sweets in his office…I should have remembered. Are you okay?"

"What's wrong with Bones?" Parker whispered to his father, wondering why he and Bones were holding hands.

"Something bad happened to me once when _I _broke a plate," Brennan told Parker before turning back to Booth. "Seeing the plate break brought that memory back, but I'm fine now." She fell silent for a few seconds while allowing herself to draw comfort from his warm eyes and the feel of his hand in hers. "You really are an excellent father, Booth."

"Thanks, Bones." He felt the familiar urge to kiss her senseless and repressed it once again. "I'm an excellent cook too, you know. Just wait and see." He squeezed her hand and flashed her another charm smile before returning to the kitchen.

Brennan didn't have to wait long before the three of them had stacks of waffles doused in butter and syrup beside tall glasses of orange juice. "These are amazing," Brennan gushed after she took her first bite. "I should eat with you two more often."

"Consider yourself welcome anytime, Bones." Booth smiled at his partner across the table. "Remember in Roswell, you told me a MRI was 'the good stuff'? I'd say this right here--having breakfast with my two favorite people--_this_ is the good stuff."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated.**


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